Summer Staples

It's the last week of August, and the end of summer is drawing nigh. Summer is my favorite season, and I feel like this one went by especially quickly...and I'm sad it's practically over. I feel like I didn't even do much this summer. For me to feel like summer is complete, I have to participate in all my summer staples, and I just haven't gotten to do all of them this summer. It's just not summer without:

camping
going to the cabin
outdoor movies
lounging about by the pool doing absolutely nothing
enjoying fireworks
BBQs
corn on the cob and other fresh garden vegetables
homemade ice cream
concerts in the park
hiking with Gramps
a summer vacation
demolition derby
rodeo
boating at the lake
sleeping out under the stars
mowing the lawn (or at least smelling the freshly cut grass)

I guess I still have a few weeks left to complete my summer checklist. What are your summer staples?

Because I haven't posted in awhile...

Here's a few random things to report on.

Story #1. Family pictures. I feel like I should be on a yaught with these preppy colors. I tried to put in my two cents about wardrobe color choices, but no one would listen. Maybe someday I'll get to be the one in charge. P.S. I have no idea how to spell yaught.

Story #2. My bro Nathan and his friend made their annual hike up to the top of Lone Peak mountain. They do this every year and bring this gi-normous flashlight and shine it from the top, then call everyone they know to see how many people can see it. You can see it from both Salt Lake and Utah counties...pretty cool. They also wore lederhosen since apparantley there is some meadow up at the top that looks like it should be in The Sound of Music. Anyway, the funny story is that some people from the valley mistook their flashlight as a cry for help, so they sent the airmed people up to rescue them. Nathan and Zach saw the helicopter coming and thought it was Channel 2 so they started waving to it, but as it approached, they realized it was airmed and started waving it away. Well, the copter landed anyway and cussed them out and left. Then it was reported on the news as some pranksters (in lederhosen) who alerted airmed unnecessarily. HA!

Story #3. Went to a yoga class this week, it was a little bit ridiculous, but at the end of class as we were laying on mats on the floor with these eye pillow things over our eyes, the instructor was telling us to take this moment to appreciate our bodies and what they do for us. And I was thinking about how many little pleasures come from our senses. You know, stuff like feeling the warmth of the sun, the smell of bread baking, hearing birds chirping, etc. And to be honest, life would be quite boring without stuff like that. So, here's to yoga and body/mind appreciation.

That's all for now.

Kiss Me, I Belong in Ireland

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

We are FAMILY

Ahh...family reunions, gotta love 'em. Here we are at Brian Head down by Cedar City. It was pretty fun, even if my Grandma did have every second of our day filled with summer-camp-like activities. The cabin we stayed was utterly amazing--seriously like a mansion-cabin with an amazing view. I've never heard of a cabin with a sauna inside!


We did encounter a mouse in the cabin, which was the cause of much drama, but other than that everything went pretty smoothly. Except for the fact that I forgot all the words to my part of the lip synch.


We went to Cedar Breaks at the family reunion and I must say I was quite impressed. They say Bryce Canyon is like Cedar Breaks only more breathtaking. I've never been to Bryce Canyon before. And to think I've lived in Utah all these years. I am planning a camping trip to go sometime...who is game? I love Utah! I think it has some great destination points with such a variety of landscaping. I've decided I need to get a job at visitutah.com or something so I can just tell everyone about the fabulous things there are to do here.

We did it!

Hurray! We finished the 10K. Congrats to us (me, Caron, and Rebecca)! I know we look disgusting, but hey, we just got done running 6.2 miles in near 100-degree weather, and I'm dang proud of us. Thanks to all the parade watchers with their spray bottles who sprayed us down as we ran past. And I'd also like to thank Spiderman for showing up and running the race with us. Oh, and not to mention those people with "Run faster" signs along the route. Maybe, just maybe, I'll go for the half next year.

Quote of the Day

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections." ~Anonymous

Loooosiana

It came! Nathan's going to Baton Rouge, Spanish-speaking. He leaves October 11.

Things that make me smile

Seeing a guy who just ran a marathon approach the finish line and pick up his 2-year-old boy and run across the finish line with the kid in tow. The little boy was so caught up in the excitement, he proceeded to wave triumphantly to the crowd over his dad's shoulder.

Watching a little kid ride a shopping cart down the street.

The smell of my barbeque grill grilling something tasty.

My new sheets and pillows I purchased for my bed.

Getting a wedding invitation in the mail from a long lost friend, and just upon looking at the photo of the husband-to-be, knowing that he'll be absolutely perfect for her.

The amazing gardens at Temple Square.

Seeing Nathan get so excited about his Spanish class, drinking mate all around town, wearing my soccer jersey while watching the World Cup, and calling me to ask how to make tortas fritas for his class. And knowing it was all sparked from our trip to South America.

All the cool journals at Barnes & Noble.

Quote of the Day

"I am aware that I am less than most people prefer me to be. But most people are unaware that I am so much more than what they see."
-Douglas Pagels

Heat stroke

We went hiking the other day to the Salt Lake Overlook, part of the Desolation Trail up Milcreek Canyon. I swear this was the hottest day of the year...until today. Anyway, we thought, oh it's only 2 miles...easy stuff. Wrong! It seemed like so much longer than 2 miles. But it was gorgeous and we had a fabulous time.

I don't think I've ever been so dang hot. What is up with this weather? And to top it off, I have no air conditioning in my apt, and my air conditioning in my car broke and the fridge broke. I think I'm going to die of heat stroke!

OK, back to the hike. Here we are at the end of the trail enjoying the view. Some crazy couple brought their newborn baby on this hike...kinda random. Oh, and I can't forget our adventure at Shivers afterwards...its like a real-life Candyland game. Oh, one more thing, my 10K race is Monday...I hope I'm ready. I've only actually run 10K twice and the first time I thought I was going to die, the second time wasn't as bad as the first, but it was still quite challenging. My knees have been hurting lately though, so I think I'm going to cut back on the whole running thing after the race. Good news! I finally made it past week 8 on the running program! Yay for me! Next month maybe I'll make it past week 9.